First time Mummy in my thirties. Living in Northern Ireland. Blogging about life, family, Mummyhood, travel and food

September 2, 2018September 2, 2018

Weaning.. from Milk to Solids

Weaning, from Milk to Solids

I can’t believe I’m actually writing a new blog post on Weaning.. from Milk to Solids. Time has flown by, and my oh my what an adventure the past year has been! It’s hard to believe we have an absolutely gorgeous, intelligent, engaging little boy in our lives taking our wee family of two to a fun filled family of three! Just a few weeks ago we were busy preparing for a first Birthday party, whilst last year we were preparing for our babies Birth.

We love being a family of three

I had quite the journey in the early days! When I was pregnant, I was very certain that I would Breastfeed exclusively no matter how difficult it would become. I have a lengthy story surrounding my journey with Breastfeeding, and you can read more about that here. The long and the short of it is, I had complete ‘Lactation Failure’ (who makes up these terms?!) So was unable to Breastfeed at all. We quickly got our head round Bottle feeding and all the tasks involved with it, David loved his Aptamil feeds and even though I went through a period of adjustment I was so glad my little baby was getting plenty of milk and was eating well.

Now, as a new Mum I consciously made the decision that I would follow the advise of the NHS to the letter. I know other new Mummy’s who have went the other route and done what they thought was right or followed advise from their families, I think as long as your choices are healthy and in the child’s best interest, you should do what you think is right. For me, I just wanted to follow the purple book that I had been sent home with from the Hospital, I decided to treat it as a guide, and this I did faithfully.

Some older relatives advised me to wean David early, however, I decided I would wait until he was six months old, my Husband agreed with me, and our sweet boy really enjoyed his exclusive Bottle feeding menu for 6 full months. Contrary to what some people may tell you online, a bottle fed baby will still bond with you, David has an unbreakable bond with his Daddy and I.

David with his DaddyDavid and I

As we approached David being six months old, I read all I could in the NHS Weaning book, spoke to my Mummy and Mummy in law and made a trip to Asda to purchase some Baby Rice. Opting for consistency, I bought Aptamil Organic Baby Rice and a cute spoon and bowl and waited for when I felt it was right to try it out. I’ll admit, I was nervous, in fact I was super nervous!

I vividly remember the very first time I made baby rice for David. I inadvertently misread the directions on the box and made it so thin it was like a soup. It didn’t go down well. He had never encountered a spoon before, so when I approached his mouth it would dribble out. I started to panic! What if he never gets the hang of spoon feeding? What will I do? Like most times in my life when I’ve let panic set in, I began to let negativity creep in, and immediately thought that Weaning was going to be a nightmare! Thankfully I overcame my panic, and our journey has been really positive and David is a fantastic eater now.

David loved Baby rice

The next time I made baby rice David was much more enthusiastic. I must tell you, when you first start Weaning, it is so messy! Prepare yourself by remembering that eating off a spoon is completely new to your wee baby, have patience and be prepared to clean up.

As we set off on our Weaning journey,I made sure that I always sat at my sons level and used a positive, upbeat voice. I also ensured that I used lotsof praise and always met David with a smiley face. Most importantly, I followed Davids pace, if he ate 3 spoonfuls that was great! If he ate much more than that, that was also great!

As time moved on I introduced lots of different vegetables. 6 months on and David still loves vegetables, and will try anything without being too fussy. I integrated some meat, potatoes, dairy and fruit over the coming weeks and David just took really well to his Weaning journey. It made going out and about much easier, and I relied on David to reduce how much Formula he was taking.

A recent breakfast of Davids!

Weaning turned out to be fine despite all my worrying. Our boy enjoys a wide range of foods, and enjoys his meals. We are still trying new, healthy foods all the time and even managed to take a holiday to Salou in the midst of his Weaning! There was always plenty of options for him to try! Honestly all you need to know is this, If you’re Weaning and you think it’s not going to work, hang in there, all the pieces will fall together eventually, take your time, follow your child’s lead and try lots of healthy options, eventually it will all work out!